Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1

A gang of heavily armed men scour and finally narrow down on a house in Wasseypur. They surround the house and unleash a wave of bullets and grenades on it with the intention of killing the family inside it. After heavy firing on the house, they retreat from the crime scene in a vehicle, convinced they have killed everyone within. The leader of the gang then calls J.P. Singh on his cell phone and reports that the family has been successfully executed but he is double crossed by JP Singh as a fire fight erupts between them and a police check post blocking their escape route. The scene cuts abruptly for a prologue by the narrator, Nasir.

Introduction of Wasseypur and Dhanbad

Nasir's narration describes the history and nature of Wasseypur. During the British Raj, Wasseypur and Dhanbad were located in the Bengal region. After India gained its independence in 1947, they were carved out of Bengal and redistricted into the state of Bihar in 1956. In 2000, Wasseypur and Dhanbad were redistricted for a second time into the newly formed state of Jharkhand where they remain. The village has been historically dominated by the Qureshi Muslims, a sub-caste of animal butchers who are feared by the non-Qureshi Muslims living there and Dhanbad by extension.

During British colonial rule, the British had seized the farm lands of Dhanbad for coal which began the business of coal mining in Dhanbad. The region was a hotbed of the local faceless dacoit Sultana Qureshi who robbed British trains in the night and thus held some patriotic value for the locals.

1940s

Shahid Khan (Jaideep Ahlawat), a Pathan, takes advantage of the mysteriousness of the faceless dacoit Sultana, a Qureshi, by impersonating his identity to rob British ferry trains. The Qureshi clans eventually find out and order the banishment of Shahid Khan and his family from Wasseypur. They settle down in Dhanbad where Shahid begins work as a labourer in a coal mine. He is unable to be at his wife's side during childbirth, and she dies. The enraged Shahid kills the coal mine's muscleman who had denied him leave on that day. In 1947, independent India begins to assert its authority over itself. The British coal mines are sold to Indian industrialists and Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia) receives a few coal mines in the Dhanbad region. He hires Shahid Khan as the new muscleman of one of the coal mines. Shahid terrorises the local population to seize their lands and extract compliance.

On a rainy day, Ramadhir Singh overhears Shahid's ambitions of taking over the coal mines from him. Singh tricks Shahid into traveling to Varanasi for business but instead has him murdered by an assassin named Yadav Ji (Harish Khanna), . Nasir (Piyush Mishra), Shahid's cousin, finds Ramadhir's umbrella with his initials near the door and concludes that Ramadhir eavesdropped on their conversation. He flees from the house with Shahid's son Sardar in the nick of time as Ehsaan Qureshi (Vipin Sharma), another associate of Ramadhir Singh and a member of the Wasseypur Qureshi clan, shows up to kill them but is too late. An unsuccessful Ehsaan lies to Singh that Shahid's family has been murdered, burnt, and buried. Under the care of Nasir, Sardar grows up along with Nasir's nephew Asgar (Jameel Khan). Sardar learns the truth about his father's death, upon which he shaves his head and vows not to grow his hair until he has avenged his father's murder.

Early and Mid 1970s

The coal mines are nationalised. A mature Sardar Khan (Manoj Bajpai) and his kin start hijacking Ramadhir's coal trucks mid-transit. Ramadhir Singh suspects S.P. Sinha, a Coal India official, to be behind the hijackings and has him murdered. After Sinha's murder, Ramadhir's reputation for ruthlessness grows, and he becomes feared in Dhanbad.

Sardar marries Nagma Khatoon (Richa Chadda). The pregnant Khatoon confronts Sardar Khan and a prostitute inside a brothel and chases him away. Later, Nagma gives birth to Danish Khan but gets pregnant immediately afterwards. Unable to have sex with a pregnant Nagma, Sardar confesses his sexual frustrations with his kin. At dinner, Nagma gives her consent to Sardar to sleep with other women but with the condition that he won't bring them home or dishonour the family name.

Sardar, Asgar and Nasir start working for J.P. Singh (Satya Anand), Ramadhir Singh's son. They misuse their employment by secretly selling the company petrol in the black market. Later, they rob a petrol pump and a train bogey belonging to the Singh family. They usurp Singh's land, which forces the two families to confront each other for talks. The meeting ends in a scuffle, but Ramadhir Singh realizes that Sardar Khan is in fact the son of Shahid Khan who he had murdered in the late 1940s. Sardar and Asghar are jailed for assaulting J.P. Singh during the meeting.

Early 1980s

Sardar and Asgar escape from jail. While hiding in Wasseypur, Sardar marries a Bengali Hindu woman named Durga (Reema Sen). Asgar informs Nagma that Sardar has taken a second wife, leaving Nagma helpless. Meanwhile, Wasseypur has merged with Dhanbad and the Qureshi clan continues to terrorise the non-Qureshi Muslims. The locals then approach Sardar Khan for help as he was well known for standing up to Ramadhir Singh. During Muharram, both Shias and Sunnis are out mourning, including the Qureshi clan. Sardar uses the opportunity to launch a major bomb attack on many Qureshi shops and houses. When word spreads about Sardar's raids, his reputation grows and he commands more fear than the Qureshi clan.

Eventually, Sardar returns home to Nagma and she gets pregnant again. Sardar tries to initiate sex with a pregnant Nagma but she refuses, which prompts an angry Sardar to leave. He goes to stay with his second wife, Durga, and she gives birth to his son, Definite Khan. Ramadhir Singh, noticing that Sardar has abandoned his first family, tries to reach out to Nagma through Danish by giving him money. An enraged Nagma beats Danish for taking the money while she breaks down in front of Nasir. A thirsty Faizal wakes up in the middle of the night to find Nagma and Nasir about to have sex. Angry, he storms out of the house and becomes a stoner, permanently seen with his chillum. Nasir reveals that the desires were never consummated, but Faizal and Nasir never see eye to eye again.

Mid and Late 1980s

Sensing Sardar's increasing clout, Ramadhir calls his old associate Ehsaan Qureshi who brokers a meeting between Sultan Qureshi and Ramadhir Singh where the two decide to become allies against their common enemy, Sardar. Sultan asks Ramadhir for modern automatic weapons which the latter promises to give.

1990s

Sardar becomes the most feared man in Wasseypur and shifts his business to stealing iron ore. Danish Khan joins the family business. A failed attack from Sultan Qureshi leaves Danish with a minor injury and causes reconciliation between Sardar and Nagma. Sardar finds Ramadhir and warns him of terrible consequences if anything ever happens to his family.

A mature Faizal (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is seriously affected by Bollywood movies as he starts behaving, talking and dressing like Bollywood characters. Sardar sends Faizal to Varanasi to buy guns, but Faizal is caught by the police and jailed. Upon release, he kills the gun seller Yadav, who unbeknownst to Faizal was the nameless assassin who had killed Shahid Khan (Faizal's grandfather) and who had implicated Faizal to police earlier. Meanwhile, Sardar seizes a lake belonging to a local temple and charges commission on fish sellers who make a catch in that lake. An uneasy peace is maintained between the Qureshi and Khan families when Danish Khan marries Shama Parveen, the sister of Sultan Qureshi. At the same time, Faizal begins romancing Mohsina Hamid (Huma Qureshi), another kin of Sultan.

Faizal reveals to a friend that his father Sardar would be travelling without security the next day. Late that night, while Faizal is still asleep, his friend calls up the Qureshis and tells them that Sardar's bodyguards wouldn't be with him the next day. The next morning, Sardar leaves home alone and reaches Durga's house where he gives her her expense allowance. Once Sardar leaves, Durga also calls up the Qureshis and tells them that he has just left her house. The Qureshi men follow Sardar's car, and when the latter stops at a petrol pump to refuel they start shooting as Sardar ducks in the car for cover. The Qureshi men put several close rounds through the car window ensuring a precise & unmistakable hit, after which they escape. A shocked Sardar opens the car door and stands up to reveal multiple bullet wounds, with one bullet embedded in his head. He steps out with his gun drawn trying to locate the shooters but he eventually collapses to his death on a ferry cycle.